A view of the crowd at the Women's March in Los Angeles on Jan. 21, 2017.

What's Going On:

Women across the world and throughout the US are expected to participate in the Women's Strike on Wednesday.

Organizers of the Women's March movement have said people can participate in A Day Without a Woman by taking the day off from work, avoiding shopping at businesses that aren't female- or minority-owned, and wearing red in solidarity for the event.

School districts in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Alexandria, Virginia, have closed schools Wednesday after hundreds of teachers requested the day off to participate in the strike.

If the strike draws large numbers, it will be another show of strength for a movement that coalesced within weeks of Donald Trump's election victory in November, and which draws on the organizing experience of the labor movement.

At least 10 demonstrators were arrested in New York.

BuzzFeed News will be live at events scheduled in Dublin, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

Thousands march to legalize abortion in Ireland

Laura Hutton / BuzzFeed

DUBLIN – Thousands of people marched through Dublin, Ireland on Wednesday evening to demand that the government repeals its highly restrictive abortion laws.

The "March4Repeal" was the culmination of a series of actions planned for International Women's Day to protest the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution, which states that abortion is prohibited except for when a pregnant women's life is seen to be at immediate risk.

An estimated 10,000 people marched from the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square to parliament buildings in Dublin, according to organizers, although local police could not confirm the figures.

Una Halligan, a retired nurse who worked in Dublin's hospitals for 45 years, carried a sign depicting a bloodied coathanger that read: "never again".

"I nursed a girl who was so desperate, she performed her own abortion with a coathanger," she told BuzzFeed News. "That was the only time I ever saw that, but there were a lot of similar desperations."

Many women she treated simply went ahead and had their babies against their will, Halligan said. "They just didn't know what to do, there was no option in Ireland and it's not much better now."

13 demonstrators arrested at the Day Without a Woman march in NYC

Thirteen demonstrators were arrested Wednesday in New York during the Day Without a Woman march, which was organized by the Women's March.

Initially, the group was aware of at least 10 arrests. That number was later revised to 13.

"After a peaceful protest in New York City in honor of A Day Without a Woman, 10 organizers were arrested by the New York City Police Department in an act of civil disobedience," a spokesperson for the organization said in a news release.

Among the women appearing in the photo is Linda Sarsour, one of the primary organizers of the Women's March.

The Day Without A Woman gathering in NYC kicks off

Demonstrators gathered in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday afternoon to participate in the Day Without a Woman protest, hosted by the Women's March.

Chanting phrases like "A day without a woman is a day without me," scores of women clustered near 59th Street to listen to guest speakers and march with signs.

One woman who would only give her name as Jill told BuzzFeed News that she took a few minutes from her lunch break to join the demonstration.

"Being out here for even five minutes is empowering," she said. "It's self-care."

The crowd, full of women clad in red and pink "pussy hats" from the Women's March, eventually grew so large that it spilled over onto the west side of Fifth Avenue. The group then began to move toward Trump International just south of Central Park.

A statue of a young girl facing off the bull on Wall Street went up on Tuesday. State Street Global Advisors is behind the new addition, and it was created by artist Kristen Visbal, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A bookstore is displaying all books by men backwards, and it’s eye-opening

Loganberry Books

Loganberry Books in Cleveland, Ohio, turned around all the male-authored books in its shop on March 1 to illustrate how much more represented they are than female authors.

"I have been bookselling for over 20 years, and every year I have taken the time and effort to highlight women's works for Women's History Month in March," Harriet Logan, the bookstore's founder and owner, told BuzzFeed.

"This year, I wanted to do something different, something that would highlight not just the good works by women, but also the disparity in the industry. As someone who tries to carry female authors, the effect is shocking," she added.

The actual flipping of the books was part of a live performance art project. A total of 10,000 books penned by men were turned around.

Logan told BuzzFeed that she plans to keep the display going until March 15.

Today's general strike is aligned with International Women's Day, and plans for it began before the Trump administration. In fact, the general strike in which women will not work, refuse to shop and wear red has been in place for more than a century.

The strike itself has generated conversations among several activists, writers, and other women all over the country. BuzzFeed News has curated a list of 12 pieces written by women about the action.

After President Trump tweeted his support for International Women's Day, lots of people on Twitter clapped back with reminders of his past comments about women, as well as the lack of female representation in his political cabinet.

Prince George County Public Schools in Maryland announced that it would cancel classes in light of the Women's Strike. It joins districts in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Alexandria, Virginia — which announced earlier today that they would also close for the day — and dozens of other schools around the country.

In a statement, Kevin Maxwell, CEO of the D.C.-area district, wrote that more than 1,700 teachers had requested time off on Wednesday, prompting the announcement.

"Throughout Prince George's County Public Schools, a high number of school-based and support staff have requested leave for tomorrow, which would compromise our ability to transport students and provide safe, productive learning environments," Maxwell wrote.

Maxwell, like several other school district leaders, said that based on the school district's policies, the County Board of Education has no political stance on the "Day Without a Woman" protests.

Justin Trudeau just invested $650 million in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights in Canada

Kay Nietfeld / AFP / Getty Images

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday announced that he had partnered with Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, the Honorable Marie-Claude Bibeau, to invest $650 million over the next three years towards funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

A statement released by the Canadian government said the country will use the money to "focus specifically on providing comprehensive sexuality education, strengthening reproductive health services, and investing in family planning and contraceptives."

The programs benefitting from the funds, the statement read, "will help prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence, including child early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation and cutting, and support the right to choose safe and legal abortion, as well as access to post-abortion care."

Trudeau said that the steps that remain on the path to gender equality — including equal pay, reproductive health, and different forms of harassment — fueled his decision to invest the $650 million in funding.

"Today, I remind Canadians that we all have a role to play in the fight for gender equality, and that we all benefit from a more gender equal world. Women and men, girls and boys, we must all step up and speak out, because half of the population cannot solve a problem that affects us all," he said in a statement.

—Tamerra Griffin

Posted at
Mar. 08, 2017, at 14:19 PM

Just a load of very Irish and very clever signs from the Women's Strike

Protests calling for safe access to abortions for Irish woman are underway in Dublin

Large numbers of people are marching through the streets of Dublin calling for access to safe and legal abortions for Irish women.

The eighth amendment of the constitution of Ireland states that the right to life of the unborn is equal to that of the woman, meaning that abortion is illegal unless a woman's life is seen to be in immediate danger.

An estimated 12 women per day travel from Ireland and Northern Ireland, where abortion is illegal, to access the procedure at private clinics in Great Britain. Around three Irish women per day purchase abortion pills online, which induce miscarriage in early pregnancies. The medication is illegal in Ireland and Northern Ireland, although it is widely considered to be safe.

To coincide with International Women's Day, pro-choice supporters are participating in the "Strike4Repeal," coordinated walkouts by women and their supporters, and the "March4Repeal," a mass demonstration in Dublin.

In 23 countries, a majority of women are claiming the often-contested label, according to a new study. But not everything is so rosy.

A majority of women describe themselves as feminists — except in Germany and Russia. Nearly 85% of Indians agreed that they're feminists, which Ipsos defined as "someone who advocates and supports equal opportunities for women." 61% of Americans claim the label. The lowest number of feminists apparently live in Germany, where only 37% agreed they were feminists. (Russia was in close pursuit of last place, with 39% of people saying they're feminists.)

But here's the bad news: The results suggest that the idea of feminism "is making more progress around the world than the reality," an Ipsos spokesperson said.

Here's 16 stories about badass women that will inspire you on International Women’s Day

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images

For International Women's Day, we wanted to thank a whole bunch of women — the ordinary women taking up extraordinary fights for their rights, and the women who tell their stories.

It isn't a comprehensive list of all the great stories by women last year, or all the great stories about women's issues. But it's a great selection shared with us over the past couple weeks, and we're happy to share it with you.

These are stories about women fighting through challenges to earn an income for their families, rebuild their lives after violence, and care for their minds and bodies. Some of these will make you laugh and some might make you cry, but they're all beautiful portraits of the kinds of fights that are going on all over the world every day.

A group of women have been driving around Ireland to advocate for abortion rights, as many continue to oppose the country's highly restrictive laws against the procedure.

The eighth amendment of the constitution of Ireland states that the right to life of the unborn is equal to that of the woman, meaning abortion is illegal unless a woman's life is seen to be in immediate danger.

ROSA (Reproductive rights against Oppression, Sexism, and Austerity) drove the "Bus4Repeal" between Dublin, Cork, and Galway between 6 and 8 March as part of an ongoing campaign for a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment.

The bus will return to Dublin for the "Strike4Repeal," coordinated walkouts by women and their supporters, and the "March4Repeal," a mass demonstration in Dublin today.

Public schools in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Alexandria, Virginia will close today after hundreds of teachers requested the day off to participate in the Women's Strike.

"I asked our school principals and central office department heads to survey staff to find out how many absences would occur," wrote Jim Causby, superintendent of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City public school system in North Carolina, in a statement. "The results came back, and the number was significant. In fact, it is my determination that we will not have enough staff to safely run our school district."

After more than 300 staff members requested leave for Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, schools superintendent Alvin Crawley decided not to hold classes with so many teachers absent.

"This is not a decision that was made lightly," he wrote in a statement. "It is not based on a political stance or position."

The Women's March movement that brought millions into the streets in January will face a major test today.

Organizers of the Women's March have asked supporters — including the more than 500,000 women who signed up to their lists after the Jan. 21 protests — to take three actions this Wednesday: Don't work at the office or at home; don't shop if you can help it, except at small, women- and minority-owned businesses; and wear red.

They've named the strike "A Day Without a Woman" and say it's the fourth of 10 protest actions slated for the Trump administration's first 100 days. Others included a letter-writing campaign targeting legislators, which attracted the half million
sign-ups, and protests at town hall events, 740 of which were attended by Women's March supporters, organizers say.